After some sagging Rocky sequels and the legacy-trashing horror that was Grudge Match, which saw Stallone as the ageing quasi-Rocky climbing into the ring with De Niro as an elderly quasi-LaMotta, it’s a relief to watch this likable boxing picture, which finds a way to evolve the Rocky franchise with humour and humility.

Ryan Coogler, who created Fruitvale Station, co-writes and directs here with an easy swing, working with Michael B Jordan – his star from that film. Jordan is Adonis, the son of Apollo Creed, longtime rival of the legendary Philly heavyweight Rocky Balboa. Adonis is a troubled kid, drawn to the ring, and the hand of destiny guides him to ask Rocky himself to train him, the ageing benevolent titan played, of course, by Stallone.

This is a boxing film with heart in traditional style but adroitly introducing a new peace-process-with-the-past motif. There’s some nice generational sparring between Adonis and Rocky and no reliance on cliche: I don’t remember the original Rocky fighting in Liverpool’s Goodison Park, against an Everton-supporting boxer who appears to be wearing a masonic apron over his shorts. Tessa Thompson is moreover a smart, contained presence as Bianca, the singing star that Adonis falls for.

There are some ancestor-worship moments, recalling the Rocky of 1976. Actually the whole thing is cheerfully in the spirit of that first film.